Savior Complex
by a walker to remember
Summary: "I'm just sick of being silent, sick of watching the people I care about suffer. Rick's gone through hell to keep us together and if what little life we've managed to make for ourselves here is destroyed by the Governor, then his efforts have all been in vain. "


**A/N:** Just a one-shot that came out of nowhere. Sorry if it's OOC. xo.

Savior Complex

Before she could leave the cell, Daryl had her wrist in a gentle but firm grip. She could feel him fighting back the natural urge to pull away – the fact that he had initiated the contact doubled her surprise in addition to his anxiety. But being as strong-willed as he was, he managed to calm himself.

"Listen, Carol, 'bout tomorrow..."

She quirked an eyebrow, immediately questioning his motives though she had a faint clue as to what this could be about.

Looking vaguely sheepish, he kept her still until it was assured that she would not run away from him as soon as he let go. He loosened his grasp and let his arm fall awkwardly back to his side. "Was thinkin'...maybe ya shouldn't...maybe ya should hang back."

"Hang back?" she echoed, incredulous. "As in, _not fight_?"

The hunter could not meet her eyes as he nodded. As much as he was nervous, he was just as focused on his suggestion. Though she had a feeling it was coming out of the goodness of his heart, she could not accept it. She had stood back too long and was heavily intent on changing that come the confrontation with the man who called himself the Governor. She was not going to allow herself to sit and watch as her friends – her _family_ – went to war.

She shook her head unapologetically. "I can't do that, Daryl."

It was enough to get him to look back up at her, blue eyes blazing with honest curiosity though his jaw tightened. "Why...why's that?"

She gazed into his expression with nothing but the purest truth. "I'm tired of being the one everybody has to save," she explained quietly, voice wavering with regret and sadness but remaining stable. "Andrea, T-Dog..." She bit her lower lip. "_You_."

He narrowed his eyes, remembering their conversation fireside after escaping the farm. "This 'bout ya bein' a burden? 'Cause if it is—"

She interrupted him, choosing to continue her original train of thought before she got overwhelmed by her emotions. "I'm just sick of being silent, sick of watching the people I care about suffer. Rick's gone through hell to keep us together and if what little life we've managed to make for ourselves here is destroyed by the Governor, then his efforts have all been in vain. "

Daryl blinked a little in response. The boldness and bravery of her words proved to have caught him off guard, but he had always suspected she was capable of such things – all be damned, after witnessing her smash her poor excuse of a husband's face in with a pick-axe, he _knew _she was. And as proud as he was in that moment, he felt just as selfish. He didn't want her to go.

There was a slight bitterness in her tone when she then carried on. "Besides, if I couldn't protect Sophia, maybe I can do better this time 'round—"

Without thinking, he growled. They'd never discussed Sophia, but his reaction was not out of the agonizing remorse that often times accompanied her name, but of anger at her hypocrisy. After all they had been through, after all she had told him about it not being his fault they hadn't found her alive, she was going to bring that up and expect him not to call her out on it?

"Don't even start," he huffed, catching her attention. "Ya can blame yourself all ya want on yer li'l girl goin' missin', but that don't mean yer a bad mother, or hell, a bad person. Ya did all ya could. Even stopped that sum'bitch from going after his own daughter, the pervert. I've known alotta monsters, not tha kind tha's walkin' the earth now, but tha kind tha's s'posed to be humankind, and trust me, yer not one of 'em."

She opened her mouth to rebuff his claims, but he held a finger mid-air to stop her, not finished. "Now, I can't force ya into doing – or not doing – things ya don't wanna, but I gotta say...for the sake of this group, they need ya. Judith, Beth, Carl..._Rick_ needs ya. If tha's beside him when he's gunnin' down the Gov'ner, then so be it. But don't, for once, think ya owe the world – this world, anythin'. Everythin' else's yer choice."

A moment passed where Carol absorbed everything he was saying. It was quite out of left-field for Daryl to be telling her any of this, but she knew he'd been genuinely thinking about it for a while now. It seemed like he was the only one out of them all who could keep a level head, despite dire circumstances that would otherwise break him. She felt the sincerity in his words and it touched her.

He cared about what she wanted, even if it wasn't in his best wishes. And those best wishes existed because they had grown so much together. Come dawn she'd be with the others and he'd understand. Just like whenever he went off with his brother or on his own, she did as well; as hard as it was sometimes.

However, there was yet another matter to be discussed. Her face grew solemn in an attempt to confront it. "Daryl, if I die—"

"It'll be from 'ole age, with me." He grinned. And then realized what he said, or rather, implied. "I meant, uh—"

She couldn't help but laugh. The topic needed to be addressed sooner or later but he wasn't going to have it anytime soon. She'd have to bring it up later.

"I know what you meant," she said to his relief. The apples of his cheeks reddened anyway. "So, um...supper?"

She nodded, smiling. "Have to go check on Judith, be right down."

He was at the perch by the time she called his name. Glancing over at her, he indicated he'd heard her. She cradled the infant, rocking her back to sleep, and mouthed her thanks.

He stopped at the first stair to appreciate the beauty of the scene, their conversation replaying in his head.

She had been wrong from the get-go. He may have rescued her from becoming a walker-meal a couple times, but she had saved him too, in ways that weren't exactly life-or-death but were significant enough to make a difference all the same.


End file.
